The capability to provide sub-micrometer to few micrometer optical alignment accuracy has been a costly and time-consuming necessity in most optical communication components and devices because of the small dimensions of typical optical waveguides. As an example, in an active optical cable, PDs (Photodiodes) and multi-mode VCSELs (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers) are placed individually within about 10-micrometer accuracy onto a populated PCB (Printed Circuit Board) with electronic components. This populated PCB is then moved to a different machine for wirebonding and once again back to the precision placement machine to place an optical element with lenses and a turning mirror. Fibers are brought onto the optical element on the PCB to complete the link to the optoelectronic module.
If any failures occur in this process, such as damaging a VCSEL or poor placement accuracy, the entire PCB is lost. This loss is expensive given the PCB must be pre-populated with all the electronics through the dirty surface mount technology (SMT) process prior to the final clean optical assembly described above. Additionally, each placement of PDs, VCSELs and a lens block has a tolerance of about 10 μm and thus creates a stack up allocation, i.e. the placement tolerances accumulate, for a larger error distribution in placement, which becomes especially problematic at higher data rates above 10 Gbps.
As a second example, silicon photonics structures use single mode operation, which must couple into a single mode fiber with apertures typically less than 10 μm. Consequently, alignment accuracies need to be within just a few micrometers, e.g. 2-1 μm, or better, to get reasonable optical coupling. The use of pick and place tooling, while capable of achieving these alignment accuracies, takes a significant amount of time and thus increases cost of the overall system.
It is a desire to provide a method to manufacture optoelectronic modules, wherein alignment tolerances between a respective optical fiber coupled to the optoelectronic modules, a respective at least one passive optical component and a respective at least one optoelectronic components of the modules, are reduced and wherein a large amount of the optoelectronic modules can be manufactured in a small amount of time. A further need is to provide an optoelectronic module, wherein alignment tolerances between an optical fiber coupled to the optoelectronic module, at least one passive optical component and at least one optoelectronic component of the module are reduced and wherein the optoelectronic module can be manufactured in a low time.